South Beach Gets Murked

Like capitalism with a bass thump, the spectre of Murk looms large over the Miami dance community. Murk members Oscar G and Ralph Falcon have helped define the "Miami sound" with their dark, ominous take on house music. Separately they've had residencies at almost every club that matters (currently you can find Oscar at Space and Ralph at crobar). But oddly enough, until now the duo has never held a joint residency.

New Times recently caught up with Ralph Falcon to ask him what we can expect from this exciting new night.

This is your first Miami residency under the Murk moniker. Why now?

The time was right. Before, it's either been that Oscar is touring and I'm in the studio, or vice versa. But there was a window of opportunity here. And we were approached by Biz Martinez, who we both felt comfortable with, and when he told us that Mansion was open on Sunday night, we knew that this was our chance.

Some of the club proprietors around Miami are, shall we say, notoriously possessive of their talent. Was there any difficulty working out the logistics?

There is a difficulty in that you don't want to step on anyone's toes, especially of people who you've had long and successful relationships with. Oscar has his weekly residency at Space, and I have mine at crobar. But our Sunday gig at Mansion is perfect in that this doesn't interfere with any of that. This isn't like me going to Space, or Oscar going to crobar. This is a neutral space and on a neutral night.

What sort of vibe are you aiming to capture, and what's the format?

We'll usually stick to going back and forth, playing about an hour at a time. But we're not going to stick to strictly one format. When Oscar and I play together, it is really dynamic and it's always a lot of fun for us. We really challenge each other to go other places without sets. We used to do it in Europe all the time years before we became successful over here, and it's nice to return to that. When we were in Europe, Miami wasn't developed. The only club was at Warsaw. And now the city is ready for it; people are more educated about house music. This is a victorious homecoming for us.

Murk performs Sunday, December 4, at Mansion, 1235 Washington Ave, Miami. Admission is $20, and doors open at 11:00 p.m. For more information, call 305-532-1525.